Country music bounces non-stop off the concrete bleachers in the cavernous Syracuse Coliseum as the show ring gate swings open and the announcer crackles to life.
“Here’s draw number 20, back number 591, Holy Cannoli Katie and RE Sears.”
The chestnut mare jogs into the center of the ring and, with nearly invisible cues from Sears — a tap on the neck, a touch of the spur — spins four times to the left, four to the right.
A moment to settle and they shift as one into the rest of the pattern: circles at the gallop, flying lead changes, 180-degree pivots and sliding stops. The stops are reining’s signature move, a moment of rapid deceleration when the horse runs at top speed down the length of the arena then lowers its hindquarters to the ground as the front legs pedal for another 10 to 20 feet.
The mare sprays dirt in her wake as she comes to a complete stop. Sears pats her on the neck and scratches under her mane as they leave the arena. Job well done.
It’s a small gesture that’s part of his DNA as horseman, champion reiner, member of the SUNY Morrisville equine studies faculty, reining coach of the Western equestrian team and — in no small measure — fulfiller of dreams: School for excellence. Aim for perfection. Reward the try.
“All of these kids need someone to believe in them before they can believe in themselves,” Sears said as he finished a coaching session with two of his reining students. He’s trying to stay warm as a second group works in enclosed pens with young horses who aren’t completely convinced about this whole saddle up and be ridden thing.
“I try to point out their success,” he said. “I try to remind them that a few days ago they didn’t think they could do what they’re doing now. Show them the tools, hand them the tools and let them use the tools ... Believe in them and what they can do.”
Sears believed. And 2023 was the sort of year that believed back.
He rode his own Katie to solid placings, and Morrisville’s Hot Cocktail – aka Lola – to three Reserve Championships in the Central New York Reining Horse Association’s Open Division, the category for the most experienced exhibitors, trainers and professional horsemen. He coached Morrisville senior Maggie Herbert to four CNYRHA championships in the Green and Rookie Divisions aboard another college-owned horse, Kicks and Giggles, while junior Amelia Jaworski rode Hot Cocktail to High Point awards and a Reserve Championship in Green Reiner.
Don’t ask Sears to brag about his success in the show pen or on the coaching sidelines. It’s not going to happen. But watch him talking quietly to his riders before they enter the show ring, giving each the pep talk or the calming words they need, and understand completely the how and the why.
“He is the reason why we got as far as we did,” Jaworski said. She’s tacking up her horse for a lesson and nods to the barn and the indoor arena. “We have this great place to ride but it doesn’t work without a great coach ... I get anxious in the ring and he just looks at me and says, ‘Just breathe,’ and I am okay.”
As for Herbert, she said she’s dreamed since she was a child of competing at the All American Quarter Horse Congress. She bonded with Kicks and Giggles as her equine partner — “he recognizes my footsteps when I come in the barn,” she said — and then Sears’ coaching made “my dreams as an 8-year-old” come true. Showing for the first time at the national level, she and Kicks placed third out of 151 horses in the National Reining Horse Association’s Green Level 2 division and 14th out of 107 horses in Rookie Level 2.
“He knows exactly what the horse needs and what we, as riders, need to do to get them to reach their full potential,” Herbert said of her coach and mentor. “He constantly has the answer no matter what you ask. He knows so much, but he doesn’t overwhelm you. He makes sure you are ready for the next step.”
It’s that experience, knowledge and understanding of how his students learn — and giving to each the guidance they need — that makes Sears so good at what he does, said Julie Corey, associate professor of equine studies and a coach with him on the Western intercollegiate team.
“He does it for every student, not just the top riders. Any student that walked in here and asked for his attention would get it — his undivided attention,” Corey said. “He builds their confidence and takes them to another level.”
For Jaworski, that meant teaching her to appreciate the art of taking it slow: “I expect a lot at the beginning, and he’s very good at telling me, ‘One step at a time.’”
For Morrisville junior Jenna Tyson, who Sears coached to the championship of the CNYRHA Green as Grass class, it was recognizing that champions are made in the hours and days they spend preparing. “He helped us to see the bigger picture,” she said. “Not to have to have a perfect run, but to see steady improvement.”
Sears said that approach is something he had to learn when he went from being a few-hours-a-week adjunct at Cazenovia College to full-time faculty at Morrisville.
“Here, I’m here 40 hours a week,” he said — although the kids maintain it’s more like he’s always at the barn — “and I can give them a little bit at a time and let them digest it because it will be there tomorrow if they don’t get it.”
The luxury of time. It’s there in the banter in the arena, the space he gives each horse and rider to find harmony, and the advice he shares as a spin wobbles like a top, the extended lope is perilously close to a cavalry charge, or a circle resembles a slowly deflating football.
“Ride the wall a little more. She’s anticipating,” he told one rider, whose horse has clearly memorized the pattern they’re riding. “Don’t let her make all the decisions completely unchecked on her own,” he told another when the mare in question decided she knows best.
The pride in his riders is so deep, Sears said he can’t even express it in words. The testament is in the trophy case: Five CNYRHA championships; four reserve championships; year-end high point award championships to Herbert and Jaworski; third place at Congress; the CNYRHA high point horse championship to Hot Cocktail and reserve to Kicks and Giggles; and enough belt buckles — the currency of reining — to anchor a pony in a stiff breeze.
He is the reason why we got as far as we did. We have this great place to ride but it doesn’t work without a great coach ... I get anxious in the ring and he just looks at me and says, ‘Just breathe,’ and I am okay.
In the end, it all comes down to three words, Sears said: “Get out there.” It’s his biggest piece of advice for riding, but listen to the rest and change a few words, and it’s a formula for life. “It might not go as well as you’d like it to go, but you’ll always learn something. You’ll certainly learn more than you will sitting at home and watching a video. Sitting in your saddle will always teach you more than sitting on your couch.”
